Samsung Series 7 11.6" Slate Review and Ratings

Editors’ Rating:

Our Verdict:
This powerful tablet has a beautiful, large 11.6-inch screen and runs Windows 7 respectably well. Consider it if you need the power of Windows in a tablet that can convert into a laptop via accessories, but mind the hefty weight and price. Read More…

What We Liked…

Big, bright, and gorgeous screen

Good touch and multi-touch responsiveness for a Windows 7 slate

Fast processor, RAM and storage

What We Didn’t…

Expensive

Too big and awkward to hold for long periods

Poor sound-recording capabilities

Samsung Series 7 11.6" Slate Review

Introduction

It doesn't take a relationship counselor to see it: In our reviews and others', Windows and touch-screen tablets don't have the best reputation for getting along. As we saw with Fujitsu's admirable attempt—the $849 Stylistic Q550 Slate PC—at massaging Windows 7 to run on tablet hardware, Windows itself is the problem, not the hardware. While Windows does run well enough, with ample speed and performance, once you start to evaluate touch and multi-touch gesture interpretation, you quickly see that Windows is something of a graceless clod. Hence, manufacturers that have ventured into the Windows-slate market have found it necessary to include a digital pen or stylus to help make touch navigation less frustrating.

Leave it to Samsung, a company that has mastered the Android-based tablet with three outstanding models (the Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Tab 8.9, and Galaxy Tab 10.1) to take the most impressive stab at the Windows-slate market so far. Enter the Samsung Series 7 11.6" Slate. Instead of trying to squeeze Windows 7 onto a slate running tablet-grade hardware, such as the 1.5GHz Intel Atom Z670 processor found in the Fujitsu Stylistic Q550, the Series 7 uses Intel's second-generation "Sandy Bridge" 1.6GHz Core i5-2467M mobile processor, which is much more suitable for running Windows 7.

The Series 7 comes in four configurations. The first model is a base $1,099 model runs Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) and has a 64GB solid-state drive (SSD) and 4GB of DDR3 RAM. For $100 more, you can get the second model, which is the same as the first but with 64-bit Windows 7 Professional.

The third model costs $1,349. With that one, you get Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), a 128GB SSD, and 4GB of memory, plus a docking station and Bluetooth keyboard. The fourth model, also $1,349, is almost the same as the third, but it runs Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) instead of Home Premium, and you don't get the docking station or keyboard.

This last model was the one we reviewed, but Samsung also sent us its $99.99 Slate Doc/Cradle and $79.99 Bluetooth keyboard. That brought the price of our review unit to a total of $1,530.

In any case, the Series 7's design and performance impressed us. However, this is a huge tablet, as tablets go, which makes it a bit cumbersome to hold and use without the keyboard and docking station. Still, it can run just about any Windows business application reasonably well, and the ability to use it without the keyboard—as a tablet—makes it highly versatile in a host of business settings.